Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday called for an absolutely pure and honest judiciary, which should be free from political biases.

She was speaking at the “East Zone-II Regional Conference” organised by the National Judicial Academy here. Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud and Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court T.S. Sivagnanam attended the conference.

“It is not my intention to humiliate anyone but it is my kind submission. Please see to it that there are no political biases in the judiciary. The judiciary must be pure, absolutely pure…,” said the chief minister, who has been critical of several judgments in the recent past.

Mamata's comment came in the backdrop of her criticism of Calcutta High Court's decision to cancel the recruitment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching employees to state-run schools. She had alleged that BJP leaders were influencing the judiciary.

The chief minister was also critical of former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who resigned from his position to join the BJP. Gangopadhyay subsequently won the Lok Sabha election from the Tamluk constituency on a BJP ticket.

“The judiciary is an important temple for us. It is just like mandir (temple), masjid (mosque), gurdwara and girjaghar (church). It is our supreme authority to deliver justice to the people. I believe the judiciary should serve all the people without thinking about their caste, creed and community,” said the chief minister.

Justice Chandrachud, who was the main speaker of the event, on the other hand, harped on "constitutional morality" which, according to him, should stem from constitutional obligations and not from personal conscience.

“I am reticent when people call courts a temple of justice. Because that would mean the judges are deities which they are not. They are instead servers of the people, who deliver justice with compassion and empathy,” CJI Chandrachud said at the conference titled ‘Contemporary Judicial Developments and Strengthening Justice Through Law and Technology’.

The chief minister also criticised the Centre for not financing fast-track courts. She said: “We have 88 fast-track courts. Earlier, the Government of India provided (financial) assistance for fast-track courts, but they stopped doing this seven to eight years ago. We are the only state that is running 88 fast-track courts, of which 55 are for women.”

Mamata said the Bengal government had given ₹1,000 crore for the development of the judiciary and provided land for constructing a new high court in Calcutta's Rajarhat area.

The Chief Justice of India emphasised the necessity of technological support to enhance the efficient delivery of justice to citizens. He mentioned the use of AI-assisted software to aid in translating approximately 37,000 Supreme Court judgments delivered since Independence from English into all Constitution-recognised regional languages.

Other justices of the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court and judges of courts in the Northeast were present at the programme.